Aussie Love
by Sarah and Lozza
Summary: When the docs at PPTH visit Australia for a conference and meet Chase’s siblings, they get in touch with their personalities and begin to view each other in a different way. Chameron. Please Review!
1. long flight

A/N: Set shortly after "Distractions" in Season 2 

Summary: When the docs at PPTH visit Australia for a conference and meet Chase's siblings, they get in touch with their personalities and begin to view each other in a different way. Chameron

Disclaimer:  I don't own House or any of its characters…….I would like to…just for a day…….I also don't own any quotes which I might have used from other stories/TV shows/House-isms etc….

Chapter 1

Chase stared out the window to the white clouds below him. He hated airplanes for some reason. It could have been because he was on them so much to visit his family in Australia. He was wondering how much easier life would be if you were a cloud. Just floating away…His thoughts were interrupted by Cameron, sitting beside him.

"You okay?" she asked. Chase nodded and looked back out the window. Suddenly, he started talking.

"So, tell me again, why are we all on a plane?"

Cameron sighed. "For the _third _time this trip, House and Cuddy have a conference at the Gold Coast, Cuddy thought it could be helpful if someone else from the board was here so she asked Wilson to come and House told you, me and Forman to come because we can't work without him and it would be easier to annoy us in person rather than over the phone," she said, almost out of breath.

Chase tilted his head at the television on the back of the chair he was facing. It showed the distance they had traveled from New Jersey to Brisbane.

"We have…5 hours, 23 minutes and 54...53 seconds until we get there. And then I gotta hear House complain about that bloody conference. I swear, I'm lucky my step-mum and her crappy family are all in Melbourne, otherwise they'd probably insist on coming to the Coast, which means they'd have to meet House, which means they'd hate me even more," Chase said, exhaustion drowning his words.

"Well, actually, we have to drive to the Gold Coast, which takes an hour, for the conference so….we have 6 hours, 22 minutes and…..21 seconds left, to be precise," Cameron replied, placing her head on Chase's shoulder. Usually, Chase would question her move, but he was too tired to care, and merely placed his head on top of hers and they both fell asleep.

As the plane landed, House looked to the seats opposite to him and found Cameron lying on Chase, who was resting on Cameron. He smirked and got up put of his seat and poked them with his cane.

"Hey, love-birds! Wake up. We're here."

Chase stirred and opened his eyes. Seeing Cameron's head below his, he quickly lifted himself off her and faced House.

"Did you enjoy your nap, sleeping beauty?" he asked Cameron. "Or were you just waiting for a fairytale kiss from the prince?" he said, gesturing at Chase.

Chase raised his hands to defend himself but decided against it. "Oh, ok. Now, my brother and his daughter are picking us up in their 4-wheel-drive 'cuz we don't have a car here and they're driving us down to the Gold Coast so don't do anything to annoy him, please."

Cameron got up of Chase's shoulder and looked at him.

"You have a brother? Is he as cute as you?" She added, just to annoy him.

"Don't call me cute…it's a long story," Chase replied.

"We've got time if you wanna tell it…" she said, the edge of her lips curving into a smile.

"Uh, ok…In grade….9, I think, his girlfriend fell for me and he got really angry. She broke up with him because 'she didn't want his cute brother doing anything stupid'. He gets really pissed whenever anyone calls any of us cute now."

"What do you mean, 'any of us'"? Cameron asked, pulling her carry-on items out of the over-head compartment. Chase's eyes widened when he saw how many carry-on item's she brought.

"Oh, I have two brothers and a sister…Did you not know that?" Cameron shook her head and walked off the plane.

As Forman, Wilson, Cuddy, House, Cameron and Chase all walked out of the gates, they heard an almost deafening scream.

"UNCLE ROB!!!!!!!!!" A girl who looked about 6 years old ran up to Chase, who scooped her off the ground and pulled her into a hug. She had flowing blonde hair, much the same as Chase's only longer and her pink, flowery dress came to around her knees.

"Hey, I missed you so much! How are you?" Chase asked the over-excited girl.

"I'm good. So are daddy, Uncle Tom and Aunty Jess. I missed you a lot!" the girl looked from Chase to the puzzled look on House and everyone else's face. "Who are they?" she asked, her eyes widening to the size of the moon.

"Oh guys," Chase shifted his attention to his co-workers, "This is my niece, Emily."

"I'm 6!" She said, looking at Cameron, who giggled at her enthusiasm.

"Emily, these are some of the people I work with, at the hospital. We are here for our work."

Emily looked down. "So, you came back here for your work, not because you wanted to see me?" she asked, almost teary.

Chase sighed. "Oh no, of course I came to see you! I came to see you, and your dad and everyone else. Speaking of which, where is your dad?" Chase asked, looking into the crowd of people who were waiting for others to arrive out of the plane.

Chase spotted his brother walking toward him. He flicked his blonde hair (which was almost identical to Chase's) back and ran up to them. He picked up his daughter and smiled.

"Hey, mate! How's working in Jersey like?"

"Uh, it ok…I guess," Chase chucked a glance at his co-workers behind him. His accent was much thicker now that he was talking to someone else of his nationality. Chase's brother looked at each of them and his gaze settled on Cameron.

"Whoa, whoa! I thought you were a doctor, not a photographer for playboy magazines!"

Cameron blushed, realizing that he was looking at her, and looked up. "Hi, I'm Alison Cameron. Its nice to meet you."

"Kyle. It's….fantastic to meet you too."

"Uh, yeah this is Forman, Wilson, Cuddy and House," Chase said, pointing to each person as he introduced them. Kyle received several 'heys' as they continued walking to the car.

"Wow! It's not just Chase that's pretty," Cuddy said, under her breath.

Everyone hopped into the car and Chase went for the driver's seat.

"Uh, Rob, you're not driving," Kyle said, taking the keys to the car out of Chase's hand.

----------------

After a long argument which resulted in House saying that Chase should drive, everyone got settled in the car.

"So, how's Jess and Tom?" Chase asked his brother.

"Well, Jess is ok. She bought a car, finally. Tom is….Tom."

Chase laughed. "What, going to nightclubs and doing bugger-all?" he asked.

"Yeah, pretty much…Oh, there's roadwork ahead so slow down, you gotta merge."

"Ok, whatever. So, has Emily settled into school-Oh, you bloody lazy shit!" Chase yelled , looking at a workman reading the newspaper on the side of the road where all the roadwork was. Everyone looked at Chase, reacting to what he said.

"He blocked the bloody lane to read the NEWSPAPER? What a moron!"

Cameron couldn't help herself and started a giggling fit. Kyle looked around at her.

"What's up with 'hot girl'?" He had given Cameron a new name, better suited to her (according to him).

Cameron centered herself and replied. "I don't think I have ever heard Chase swear before."

Kyle looked shocked. "Seriously? He used to go off his head when we were growing up-" Chase cut him off.

"OK!!! Let's not go there, please!" Chase said, raising his voice. "And, 'hot girl'? What the hell? You're married! And you have a daughter!"

"I know, I know!" Kyle looked at Chase. "Well, just don't swear in front of my daughter. I don't want her picking up any of that shit." Kyle said, calmly

Chase chuckled. "Hypocrite."

Arriving at the beach house where Chase and the others were going to be staying, Chase and Kyle crashed on the couch and turned on the TV. They flicked through the channels and only found cricket.

"Do ya know who we're playing?" Chase asked Kyle.

"Uh……no idea. Oh well, just leave it on." Kyle replied. Cameron came over and sat down next to Chase, leaning on his shoulder.

"Get off." Chase ordered. Cameron ignored him and looked at the TV.

"Hey, do you guys have any alcohol?" House asked.

"House, I think it's a little early to be thinking about drinking, don't you?" Forman asked.

"I think there are a couple of beers in the fridge if you want them." Kyle replied, completely ignoring Forman while still memorized by the television.

Chase noticed that Cameron would not budge off his should and yelled, "Can ya get me one too? I'd get it myself but….. There's a Cameron on my shoulder!"

House went to open the fridge but stopped to look at the funeral cards on the fridge. Wilson walked up to house and also spotted them. They read:

_Rachel Chase_

_Born 23__rd__ January 1957_

_Born into eternal life 3__rd__ October 1994_

_Mother of Thomas, Jessica, Kyle and Robert Chase_

_Wife of Rowan Chase_

_May she rest in Peace_

Wilson looked at House and then to the two Chase boys staring at the TV. House could tell Wilson felt sorry for them, having lost their mother at such a young age. House felt sorry for them too but didn't want to show it. He merely opened the fridge and pulled out 4 beers.

House passed out the beers to his fellows and sat down. Kyle accepted it and got up off the chair to get a bottle opener.

"Hey, I saw you mum's…funeral card. I'm sorry" Wilson said to Chase.

Chase turned his attention from the TV to Wilson. "Oh…um, yeah….thanks."

Kyle over heard the conversation and butted in.

"Rob, we got dad's here if you want it."

Everyone, including Forman, who was reading a text message on his phone, turned to Chase. They all knew that Chase had never forgiven his father for leaving him. Chase shrugged, not taking his eyes off the television.

"Um, no thanks, I'm alright," he said casually. He wanted to change the subject. "You, know, the fireworks are on for New-Years-Eve tomorrow night, aren't they? Wanna go check 'em out?"

Emily came rushing in from one of the bedrooms, still holding a colour pencil and a colouring-in book. "Fireworks? Can we go see them daddy? Can we?! I love fireworks! Especially the ones that look like hearts."

Cuddy found this adorable and laughed with the 6-year-old. Emily was looking for a place to sit down so Cuddy shuffled over so she could sit next to her. Chase could tell that Cuddy had taken a shine to Emily. He smiled to himself and went back to the TV.


	2. meeting the rest

Chapter 2

Everyone had settled into the house and gotten to know Kyle and Emily enough that they could start to talk about their lives. Conversation went from annoying patients to their own family, horrible experiences at high school to favourite foods and restaurants. By 2:30pm, everyone was starving, having not had eaten any food since before they left New Jersey. Kyle threw the idea of lunch into the air.

"So, seeing as though Rob and I can't cook and I am not letting any of you cook in my kitchen, do you want to get take-away or should we wait for Jess to come and cook something?"

Chase turned around, confused. "Jess is in Brissie, she's not coming,"

"Yeah, she and Tom thought it would be nice to see their _little brother_ again after 3 years. ...Oh and if they say anything about you leaving us to deal with the rest of the family, just ignore them. They thought you 'abandoned' them to deal with Cassy, but I'm sure they're over it. I think it was just a joke."

Chase go up, pushing Cameron (who he was pretty sure had fallen asleep on his shoulder) off him and walked over to Kyle.

"You better bloody hope so! I'm not dealing with that shit again." he said casually.

Cameron, who hadn't been asleep, turned her head to face the two boys. "Aussie's swear a lot, don't they?"

"Get used to it," Kyle replied. He opened his mouth to say something else but got cut off by the bang on the door. Chase walked down the hall and opened it.

"So, look who it is? Dr. Chase! I haven't seen you in a while. Decided to pop in?"

A blonde, skinny female entered the room. Forman, House and Wilson all stopped to look at her. Her mini-skirt was so short it mesmerized them. Chase grinned. "You know, the 6-year-old gave me a better greeting. I'm ashamed of you, Jess!" Another tall, well-built male (with longer blonde hair) entered the room, wearing a dark blue singlet and denim shorts.

Over at the TV, House got up and made a very fake cough, cueing Chase to introduce them.

"Oh, Jess, Tom, this is Dr. House, my boss in New Jersey, and th-"

"Your boss came? Dude, someone's a suck up!" Tom butted in.

"Did no one get my message? We've got a conference here, moron!"

Jess looked at each of her brothers. "Well, the sniping contest is absolutely awesome! On the other hand, there are, like, 5 other people in here so, Rob, could you continue?"

Chase smiled at Tom and turned around. "Okay, well this is House, this is Wilson, Cuddy, Forman and Cameron."

"Hey, welcome to the boiling hot country of…what do American's call it?"

"Down Under?"

"Yeah, whatever."

Kyle suddenly remembered that he was starving.

"Hey, Jess? Since you know how to cook….we haven't had lunch and…. Can you…."

Jess smiled. "I'll see what you loser's have in the cupboard."

"Okay, it's 4:00! Who wants to go for a walk along the sand?" Jess asked openly.

Chase, Kyle and Tom shrugged, Cameron, Cuddy and Wilson nodded, Forman said he won't, Emily jumped at the opportunity to go on the sand and House ignored them because he knew that they knew that he couldn't walk with a cane on the beach.

"Uh, okay, I gotta go change my shirt, but I'll be right back." Jess replied to everyone.

----

Chase had always enjoyed strolls along the sand and walking with his

siblings and some of his co-workers had been an added bonus. Wilson and Cuddy walked with Jess, Tom and Kyle, asking questions about Chase's childhood while Cameron stayed a little further back with Chase.

"So, you're brothers and sister all seem really nice," Cameron said, looking out to the crashing waves around her. She loved the sea-salt air that filled her lungs as she walked.

"Yeah, well, you should have been there growing up. They were so annoying! Never helped with anything…Well, you've met most of my family, what about yours?" Chase asked. He looked Cameron in the eyes. For the first time, he noticed that they were green. Not a horrible green like other's but a really gentle green. Breaking his thoughts he looked ahead at his siblings and co-workers.

"Well, my dad died in a car accident when I was 10 and as far as I know my mum's doing ok. I've got 2 older brothers, both equally annoying-You'll know what I mean." Chase chuckled. He had never seen Cameron outside of work, by herself. She was a lot different. _She looks more stunning in free clothes outside of the hospital _thought Chase. He suddenly realized that Cameron had gently wrapped her hand around his. He smiled to himself as they continued walking.

Meanwhile…..

Wilson, Cuddy, Tom, Kyle and Jess were all bunched up and in a deep conversation. Emily was running around close by, picking up pretty shells and trying to avoid the cold waves which nipped at her ankles.

"Wait, so Chase was, like, a _jock_ in high school?" Cuddy asked Jess. The three siblings were telling stories from their childhood about Chase and enjoying the walk.

"Yeah, I'm telling you, he was a kick-ass soccer and rugby player-really popular."

Wilson chuckled to himself. "He is a lot different at the hospital. He's very modest."

"Oh, and I almost forgot to ask, where did all of you get the blonde hair and the good looks from?" Cuddy asked. Wilson raised his eyebrows at her question.

Jess felt that she should answer. "Our mum. She had really long, blonde hair and was apparently very gorgeous as a teenager." She looked down.

Cuddy looked down. "Oh, ok, I'm sorry for bringing that up…"

Kyle smiled, "Hey, its fine. Rob has a hard time getting over her death 'cuz he dealt with it the most. We're all older and didn't have a lot of time-Tom had already gone to university and was rarely home. Rob was only fifteen so I think he took it the worst."

Wilson felt like an anvil had dropped on his chest. "Oh, I had no idea. He never talks about it…He-He just…."

Jess smiled at their uncomfortable expressions. "It's okay."

"What do you mean; you've never been to the beach before?" Chase asked Cameron as they were walking back up from the beach.

Cameron laughed. "Well, we didn't live near one and we never had time to go…it's not that big a deal!"

Chase looked at her. "Yeah it is! Okay, look, we don't have to go to the conference so tomorrow, I am taking you down to the sand and you'll see how fun it is."

Cameron thanked him and walked inside the house. Inside, Forman and House had fallen asleep on the couch watching _The Matrix_ and Tom, Jess, Kyle, Cuddy and Wilson, who had reached the house earlier than they had, had all gathered around the table chatting and eating chips.

"What's going on?" Kyle asked.

"Cameron has never been to the beach before! I told her that we would go tomorrow 'cuz we don't have to go to the conference.

"Oh great! Did you bring your board?" Jess asked, joining in the conversation.

"I left it here. I'm planning on teaching Emily when she gets a little older," Chase replied.

Cameron looked around at Chase. "You surf?"

"What? No way! It's this wooden board that you chuck on the wet sand, jump on it and go gliding across. It's so fun, I'm making you do that tomorrow!

Cameron looked terrified. "Excuse me? I already agreed to be dragged down to the sand, I am NOT doing some crazy boarding-thing! Are you insane?"

"I don't think so…"

Cameron rolled her eyes and sat down. Chase yawned and walked down the hall.

"I'm gonna have a shower….don't know why I told you that but anyways…!"

Chase walked into the bathroom and shut the door.

After a while (in that time, Emily had been picked up by her mother and taken back to Brisbane), Chase walked out of the bathroom, fully clothed and his hair damp, and walked into his room. Just as he was about to shut the door, he found Cameron sitting cross-legged on his bed.

"Hi! What's up?" he asked.

Cameron got up and walked over to the door and shut it.

"Um, I just wanted to say thanks for letting us crash here. I hate hotels and-"

"It's okay. Are _you _okay?" Chase asked again.

"Yeah, it's just…..never mind."

"No, tell me."

"Okay…well, I suppose that…seeing you with your siblings and having a great time makes me realize how much I miss my brothers. I dunno… I just feel kind of down about it. It's nothing." She reached for the door handle but Chase grabbed her hand in time.

"Hey, how 'bout this? After dinner, if you want anything, there's an ice cream parlour in the mall. We'll go there and get a treat, all right?"

Cameron smiled and ruffled his wet hair. Just as Chase turned to face the door, Cameron grabbed his shoulder, turned him back around and kissed him. She was still unsure why she did it but knew that it was too late to turn back. Chase slowly pulled away and looked at her.

"I should go," is all he said.


	3. Don't Tease!

Chapter 3

As planned, Chase took Cameron to the amazing ice cream parlour in the mall. However, instead of just Cameron and Chase going, everyone else (except Forman, who was being very anti-social) had tagged along. They walked in little group along the main street back to the beach house. Chase and Cameron walked with Jess, Tom and Kyle while House, Wilson and Cuddy followed further behind.

"Why don't you guys do more stuff with James and Lisa?" Jess asked Cameron, who was standing beside her.

"Well, we never really have a lot of time…."

"Well, they seem very interested in Rob, that's for sure," Jess replied.

Chase overheard their conversation and looked at his sister. "What exactly did you tell them?"

Jess smiled at Tom and Kyle, who had also joined in the conversation. "Oh, nothing really, you know, just what we know about your experiences at high school. You know, your popularity record and all that jazz." Jess smirked at her comment.

"Why the bloody hell did you do that? I told you not to mention that to anyone!" Chase yelled.

Cameron always loved hearing about Chase's childhood and started to ask questions.

"What exactly did you tell Cuddy and Wilson?"

Jess grin grew larger. "Why? Do you wanna hear about your future boyfriend's past?"

Cameron was shocked. "What? I'm not……..what?"

Kyle butted in. "Yeah Rob, I mean, after you kiss a girl, you at least gotta tell her something, don't you?"

Chase looked at him. "I didn't kiss her…..What-Why would you think that?" He asked, swallowing half way through his sentence. He was obviously embarrassed.

Kyle, Tom and Jess all grinned at their brother. "The doors aren't soundproof. We heard you _little talk._" Jess whispered.

Chase looked defeated. "Oh, shit! Come on, Cameron." He grabbed her hand and walked ahead of the group. Cameron had had her fair share of bad experiences with getting caught and followed Chase, almost teary.

House, noticing the sudden split of his employee's, limped up to Jess, Tom and Kyle.

"What happened?" he asked. Wilson and Cuddy had also joined them and were curious to see what was going on.

"Well,, there's no harm in telling their boss. We found out that they kissed…" Jess replied.

"WILSON! You owe me $100! HA! TAKE THAT!" House stopped and pointed at Wilson. Wilson's face read defeat and he reluctantly pulled out his wallet and handed over the money.

Tom looked confused. "What's happening?" he asked.

The edge of House's lips curved into a smile. "Wilson, Forman and I had a bet that Chase and Cameron would hook up while we're here…..I gotta call Forman."

Cuddy laughed at House's excitement. He was finally enjoying himself on this trip- Even if it was for work.

Chase was moody the rest of the night and sarcastic comments from his siblings didn't help. Before long, everyone knew about what had happened between him and Cameron.

"Rob, cheer up. As your older siblings, we are forced by nature to humiliate you. If you need support, go to your _girlfriend!_" Tom laughed. Chase got off the couch and walked to the fridge.

"Getting a beer, anyone want one?" he asked.

Kyle looked at him. His expression suddenly turned serious. "Rob, you shouldn't have more than 3 in a day. That'll be your 4th. Slow down, dude."

"Yeah well if you stopped taking the shit outta me then I won't have any more," Chase shot back.

"Stop it, man. You're turning into mum-"

"DON'T bring her into this, Kyle. This has nothing to do with mum."

Now everyone was paying attention to the outbreak of yelling. Kyle stood up to face his brother.

"Yeah, well you're going the same way." He pushed Chase into the bench. "You don't need alcohol to solve all your bloody problems. You did the same thing after she died! All through your late teens you were drinking." Kyle slowed down and lowered his voice. "I know you dealt with mum's death worse than all of us, but you need to let it go."

"I can't let it go! I was the one who was cleaning up her puke, and looking after you and Jess. When dad left, you guys didn't bother to help me. That's why she died! Because she was sick AND because you guys were lazy assholes!" Chase spat. He almost broke down but somehow held himself together. He walked down the hall, wrenched open the door and slammed it shut. Everyone was recovering from Chase's outburst, Kyle especially. A few minutes of silence after Chase left, Tom got up and gave Kyle a hug.

"Hey, don't sweat it. It's Rob, he's always been like that. Just let it go, mate, alright?" Tom whispered to his brother.

Kyle was almost in tears. "He's such a moron. I just want him to be okay, and he flips out!"

Jess felt she should comfort her brothers. "Well, we did egg him on, but I think he should have some self-control. Come on, sit down, chill, we'll leave him be for a bit and in……15 minutes, I'll go look for him-"

"I'll go get him later. I should talk to him. I don't think it'll be good if he gets angry at any more of you." Cameron said, standing up.

"Whatever, it's your funeral," Tom replied, shrugging.

They all sat in silence waiting to see if Chase came back before they were forced to get him. Wilson broke the silence.

"I didn't actually know that Chase had a side like that."

"Yeah he's totally different in Australia," Cuddy added. "He needs to learn how to control his temper….Hey! Maybe he and House could go to classes together!" They all looked at each other and then to Cameron, who started walking to the door.

"I'm gonna find him," she said.

"You've never been to Australia. Do you know your way around?" Wilson asked.

"It's Chase. I'm gonna check the beach.

Sure enough, there was Chase, sitting with his head on his knees facing the ocean, on the deserted beach, chucking stones into the water. Cameron spotted him and came and sat next to him. She flicked her long, brown hair behind her ear.

"Hey, you wanna come back now?" she asked.

Chase looked out at the water, his soft, blonde hair getting caught in the wind.

He shook his head. "They were always like this. Always….always arguing with me……against me. Even when mum died, they were so stubborn. _Insisting_ on doing nothing. It was like arguing with 3 rocks." He felt a tear gliding down his cheek. Cameron wiped it away and looked at him.

"You did a great job of looking after her. It wasn't even your responsibility and you did it anyway." She said.

Chase looked back at her, leaned into kiss her but then looked away. Cameron almost looked disappointed. Now that she saw that he was damaged, she was more drawn to him.

"We'll go back up the house and I'll go apologize. Oh God, I feel like shit for blowing up at him!" he added.

Cameron smiled. "So, you're never gonna stop swearing?"

Chase chuckled. "I'm afraid not-well, when we get back to Jersey, maybe but…" he laughed.

Cameron laughed, stood up, picked up some sand and threw it a Chase. It hit him square on the head. Chase gave her a look which she read as "grow up" but he retaliated by throwing a larger clump of sand at her. This went on for a good 10 minutes. They were both exhausted from their day and decided to go back up to the house, both in happier moods.


	4. Realizations

Chapter 4

The next morning flew by. House, Cuddy and Wilson went to their conference and Chase took Cameron to the beach like he promised. They walked along the soft, burning sand, gossiping about different doctors at PPTH. Afterward, they went into the surf, well, more like Chase dragged Cameron into the water.

"I'm not going any deeper than my waist, understood?" Cameron asked. Her long brown hair was wet and joined in clumps as she swam out to Chase. Her tone reminded him of her at the hospital.

"Whatever, Cameron. The waves are massive today so if you get dragged out more, don't blame me," was his reply.

Cameron giggled. "Well, if I drowned, you'd save me, right?" she asked.

"Again, whatever."

They floated in the salty water for about 10 minutes, dodging strong impact points from waves. A little while later, Chase spotted a giant wave coming and yelled out to Cameron.

"Hey! There's a massive wave ahead. Are you gonna be okay, or do I have to pick you up?" he asked sarcastically.

Cameron looked up and saw the wave Chase warned her about.

"Holy shit! That's……"

"Big?" Chase filled in for her.

Cameron thought she'd make fun of him for a bit.

"Save me, Lancelot! I am going to be engulfed in the large wave heading for us!" She put on a bad old English accent. As the wave got closer, she began to see the actual size of it and clung to Chase.

"You'll be fine, I've got you," he said.

Just as the wave was about to hit, Chase grabbed Cameron's hand and dragged her under the water to avoid the wave. When he felt that the wave had passed, he made sure he held Cameron tight, and jumped up to the surface. They stood above the surface, laughing.

"That was SO cool!" Cameron yelled. Chase could tell that she hadn't had this much fin in a while. She paused and realized the position they were in. Chase had both his arms wrapped around her waist and Cameron was holding onto his shoulders. They just looked at each other. Cameron slowly leaned into him until there was no space between them. The kiss lasted for what seemed like several minutes before another wave came crashing down on them. They didn't notice the wave before it hit and they both got sent back close to the shore.

"Hey, I think we've had an _okay_ time. Wanna head up to the house?" Chase asked. Cameron nodded, took his hand and casually strolled up the beach to the pathway close to the house.

When they reached the house, they found Forman waiting for them.

"Where the hell were you?" Forman asked. "You left me to deal with House complaining about the stupid conference!"

Chase smirked. "That's why it appealed even more to leave early." As he said this, Cameron emerged from the hall, still wearing her bikini. Forman's jaw dropped and he blinked.

"You shouldn't wear that in front of any male or lesbian."

Chase hadn't had a proper look at her in a while so he stood back to face her. The sight of her took his breath away. The colour of her togs brought out the green in her eyes. Her layered brown hair was half draped over shoulders.

"O-Oh, my God. You look………..stunning," he said. The two men just stood there, staring but Chase thought that after 2 minutes it might look freaky to have her colleges staring at her so he walked over to the kitchen, slightly giddy. Cameron giggled at their reactions.

"Forman?" he looked up to her, again, trying not to be mesmerized. "You wouldn't care if you found Chase and me-"

"making out?" he finished.

Cameron blushed then nodded.

"Not really, I don't give a crap. It wouldn't be a surprise if I did." He replied.

Cameron smiled. "Okay then, it's good to have that information."

Later that evening, Cuddy, House and Wilson all returned from the conference.

"I'm telling you, that jackass would've stalked me until I gave in!" Wilson shouted as he and his two companions, House and Cuddy, entered the door.

"Wilson, leave it alone. You just didn't want to pay an extra $2 for parking," Cuddy replied, rolling her eyes.

"Forman, where's Jess and all them?" Cuddy asked Forman as she entered the kitchen.

"They all left after you guys left. They'll be back to pick us up when we have to leave," he replied.

Wilson frowned. "Oh, I never really got to know them…" As he said this, Chase emerged from out of his room.

"Okay, we'll start with Tom. He is the oldest and always had many, many girlfriends. At 17, he thought it would be more fun to party late at night than to look after his mother. As a result, he is not married as many women believe he won't be able to look after them which is probably true as he is also afraid of commitment." He didn't even pause to move on. "Jess is the second oldest and more responsible. She had a fear of driving until just recently. Kyle has somewhat more of a social life than Tom as he's married and had a child. He is responsible but can lose his temper every so then there's me….well, you all know me!"

House, who for once, had been silent until just now, said, "Kyle wouldn't be the only one in your family to lose his temper." Chase ignored him and changed the subject.

"Anyone wanna go to the pool? There's never anyone there at night." He asked.

Wilson nodded. "Uh, yeah whatever. House?"

"Only if Cuddy swims naked." House replied casually. Cuddy scoffed.

As they walked down o the pool, all dressed in bathers, House noticed that Chase and Cameron had been very close wince they went to the beach. He finally had a chance to get Chase alone as they approached the pool.

"So, have you slept with her yet, or are ya waiting till' we get back to Jersey? You know, it's a foreign country for her. She might be uncomfortable."

"You really have no idea how to stay out of other people's business. No wonder Wilson finds you so annoying!" Chase replied, cleverly avoiding the question.

He started to walk away but House grabbed his arm.

"Do you love her?"

Chase just shrugged, and walked away. _Did he love her?_ He had spent so much time with her on this trip he had just assumed that they were just friends. He had always _liked _her but…Chase looked over to her, swimming gracefully in the pool, her eyes glistening in the moonlight. She seemed so much free when she wasn't at work. She moved with more energy and excitement than before.

Chase signaled to her to get out of the pool and took her to the side, away from anyone else.

"Listen, I don't think this whole…making out thing…should happen when we get back to Jersey," he whispered. He sounded disappointed when he said this but he knew it was for the best.

"Why?"

Chase sighed. "It might get in the way of our work……here's fine but…." He trailed off.

Cameron looked down for a bit but then something occurred to her.

"So, when we're here, we can, but when we're over in America we can't?"

"That's right," Chase answered.

Cameron looked over her shoulder to make sure no one was coming out of the pool, grabbed Chase's shoulders and kissed him. She wanted to make the most of the time they had in Australia and she wasn't going to waste it talking. As she went to wrap her arms around his back, they heard the pool gate slam.

"What the hell are you guys doing? We were looking for you," Forman asked.

He was standing there with his arms folded against his chest along with House, Cuddy and Wilson.

"Uh…I had to talk to her," Chase replied.

"No, you had to talk to her tonsils!" said House. "Go on. Shoo!"

Chase and Cameron obeyed and walked back to the pool, trying not to look at anyone.

When they were out of earshot, House turned to the rest of the group.

"Pay up. You ALL lost to Uncle Greg!" A giant smirk appeared on his face as he collected his $300 from his colleges.

"Shut up, you narcissistic cripple!" Wilson shot back. Cuddy could tell that he did not enjoy the conference because he had been in a foul mood ever since he got back.

House put on a hurt puppy dog face. "My mommy always told me that saying mean things is wrong!" With that he made a very dramatic entrance back into the pool area where Chase and Cameron were sitting on the edge of the pool. House silently crept up behind them. With one push on the back, they both fell flat into the water. House grinned and poked his two employee's heads with his cane, which were now totally soaked.

"Thank you," said Chase, sarcastically. He was standing in the pool, looking up at House, who pushed his head into the water once more.

"No, problem. Anything to annoy two twenty-six-year-olds in love." House replied, carelessly.

Chase scowled him as he limped away to the deck chairs around the pool. He whispered in Cameron's ear,

"Wanna go upstairs?" he kissed her neck and hopped out of the pool, offering his hand for when she got out. She giggled.

"Sure," she replied. She held his hand as they walked out of the pool area.

Everyone looked at them.

"$50 says that they'll still be together when we get back to Jersey," Cuddy said.

"Make it $100, House said, smiling devilishly at the rest of the group.

"No House! I already paid you $200, I'm not-"

"$250? If you say so!"


	5. Fly Away Home

Chapter 5

_Two days later_

"_Flight 145 to New Jersey, please go to gate 4. Thank you."_

House checked in his luggage and limped toward the other doctors and Chase's siblings (who had dropped them to the airport).

"I hate airports. Does no one understand the phrase 'Check all my bloody bags or I'll smash you back to Berlin'?"

Chase looked at him and then looked over to the check –in server.

"She's an old lady. Be nice!"

"When did I sign up for that?" House replied.

They continued walking to gate 41. When they reached it, everyone was already boarding.

"What! The plane's not meant to board for another 20 minutes!" said Cuddy, looking over her boarding pass.

Jess looked at her youngest brother. "Well, you should go. It was nice to see you again. Call us when you land."

"Yeah, whatever." Chase replied.

"Yeah, dude, as the youngest, you gotta be the responsible one. Stay outta trouble and…don't go sleeping with strangers, I learnt that the hard way!" Tom said. He looked down, very emotional. "Sorry, we never get to see ya anymore. I missed your bad temper when you left."

Chase smiled. "Well, same to you and I _will_ call when we land, okay?" Tom nodded.

Kyle stopped saying good bye to the other doctors and took Chase aside.

"Hey, I'm really sorry about the argument over mum. I feel awful that I didn't help out more."

"It's okay, man."

"Okay, have a great time…It's so cool to be able to say to people that my brother is working for this kick-arse hospital in America...I'm really proud of you!" Kyle said, barely finishing his sentence as his eyes were welled with tears.

"Hey, I'll come down for Easter, alright?" Chase said, giving his brother a hug.

Kyle nodded, and then whispered in Chase's ear, "And look after that hot girl, she likes you."

They both laughed and slapped each other on the arm.

"See ya,"

"Bye."

Cameron walked over to Chase as they gave their ticket to the attendant.

"You gonna be okay?" she asked. Chase nodded.

"Yeah, I just haven't seen them in…….5 years…..My God, 5 years, has it been that long?" he gave Cameron a hug and sat down on the plane.

"They care a lot about you, and you care a lot about them." She kissed Chase's cheek and rested on his shoulder as the flight attendant ran through the procedure in case of an emergence.

"Chase….Chase…..CHASE!"

Chase looked up to find Cameron shaking his shoulder.

"What the……"

Cameron smiled. "We landed, like, 5 minutes ago," She said.

Chase looked surprised and got up, pulling his backpack from under the seat in front of him up. They walked off the plane and into the gate of the airport.

"Suppose I better call home then, shall I?" Chase asked Cameron. He dialed the number and waited for a pick up.

"_Hello, this is Jess."_

"Hey, guess who?"

"_Hey! How was your flight? Did you arrive safely?"_

"Yeah we're all fine. How is Kyle? He had a bit of an emotional time when we left."

"_He's seems okay now. We have a special guest who wants to talk to you."_

Chase held the phone and waited.

"_HI UNCLE ROB!"_

"Hey, it's my favourite girl! How are you?"

"_I'm okay. I never got to say goodbye to you and yours friends."_

Chase chuckled. "I'll put the speaker on and we'll all say "hello", alright?"

He turned on the speakerphone and signaled everyone to talk.

"It's Emily," he whispered.

"Hey, Emily!" They all said as they walked toward the doors of the airport. Chase thought it might look weird if 6 respectable doctors were all talking into a speakerphone and stopped walking, moving to one side.

"_Hi! It was really nice to meet you. You're all really nice!"_

"It was nice to meet you too!" Cuddy said.

"_Okay, well have a really, really good time and make sure Uncle Rob doesn't get into trouble!"_

Chase switched the speakerphone off. "That's her father talking." He switched the speaker back on again and said, "Tell your daddy that he better come visit us over here!"

"_What are you gonna do if he doesn't?"_

"It's a surprise." Cameron giggled at Chase's last comment. "I'll ring you later. Bye Emily!"

"_Bye. I'll miss you!"_

"Bye." With that he switched off the phone and walked toward the yellow cab.

"I'll miss them too," Chase said, under his breath.

"Arrrrgh, I hate jetlag!" Cameron shouted as she entered the office. They had all arrived at the hospital before they went home so they could drop some things off. She looked out the window and smiled. While she loved the warm Australian climate, she had looked forward to seeing the snow again this year.

"Ai Ai, Captain Cam!" Chase said, walking in after her.

Cameron spun around t o face him.

"_Not_ funny!" she shouted.

Chase looked at her and stood calmly, leaning against the glass door.

"Hey, I wanted to thank you for coming down to meet my family…aside from the fact that House kinda forced us to go but….thanks."

Cameron looked around to find a place to put her bag. "Listen, while we're on that subject, I wanted to thank you for…comforting me while we were down there. Seeing you with your family reminded me of how much I miss mine," Cameron replied.

"Yeah, but now that we're back, we can't…..you know…..anymore," Chase said, trying to sound enthusiastic.

"That's right!"

"Right! So I gotta go pick something up from my locker, I'll see ya later." Chase walked out and down the hall. Cameron watched him leave….and turn back around to walk into the office,

That can't be right.

"I'm still on Australian time, does that count?"

Cameron nodded as Chase briskly walked over to her and kissed, her completely unaware of the fact that everyone had now entered the conference office and was staring at them.


End file.
